What is the big deal about lounge access?
 

I notice that there is a lot of discussion in the boards about access to the different lounges.

I do by virtue of either class of travel or status have access to lounges most of the time. But I do rarely have the time.

As a seasoned traveler, I try to maximize the efficency of my time and thus minimize the iddle time at airports. Elite status or travel class (F or B) allow most of us to cut through long check-in lines. To those airports that I travel the most, I make a point of knowing what the closing time is for the flight (in Singapore it is 30 minutes, in Hong Kong it is 40, etc.). I also take into account how long it can take me to go to the airport. At the very end, I end up having so little time while departing from a place that I do not really bother often to go to the lounge. I would rather spend little time at the airport than go early just to go to a lounge.

The only time when i would care about going to the lounge is when connecting from a long transcontinental trip. For example JFK-LHR-HKG. In this instance I do care about access to the lounge at LHR.

If as I suspect, most of those here in these boards are very frequent travellers, I would suspect that there is no thrill on spending time at airports. Thus, why is lounge access so important when one spends so little time there?

1) When time permits, I build my schedule with some flexibility so I'm able to volunteer to bump and take the vouchers. (this is far from trivial, last year i had over 2k in vouchers, so far this year $950)

2) I also enjoy being able to leave my carry on in the coat room while I move about, even on short stays. (I do feel weird about this as it now fails the "has your luggage been with you?" test)

3) I enjoy the service from the staff. They are trained on how to service, not just process you, no small thing.

4) Clean bathrooms.

I'm sure others wil come up with more. Being efficient with your time does not necessarily mean minimizing your stay at a airport.

'my' lounge is often (50%) a meeting place (business, private) too. A (more or less) convenient place to wait/meet when 'people' fly in from different places and may be early or delayed.

Before starting my trips in Zurich (very early in the morning) I will take breakfast (a real continental one) at the (Zurich) Senator Lounge - I hope the new StarAlliance Lounge (to be opened in a few days) will serve full breakfasts too.

Foodwise I judge (from all StarAlliance lounges) Ansett Golden Wing lounges the best 'general' lounges - where I often might also have a small lunch /snack and a free Internet connection (time spared not lost then).

there is a delicate balance between getting to the airport in time to park @ the least cost place, allow for traffic jams, allow for check in delays, allow for getting on the stand by upgrade list [ if you didn't make it on the auto system]. having a lounge available will take up the slack. in the us, it is not the same as it was in the 1960's 70's . i don't know how many times i had the plane door hit me in the butt as i got on. then had no lounge access [ except on delta where a ticket got you in] i like a lounge. exp has gotten me into a number of lounges with a ticket on the a/l. i love the quantas lounge in sydney, wish all were as good. if they would let you sleep there, i would move in and retire there.

[This message has been edited by clacko (edited 07-15-2001).]

the main reason for me are
1. to check email
2. when there is delay, or wen i arrive early

I agree with you all that those are very good reasons to access the lounge,.....when having iddle time at the airport.

However I am still not convinced of leaving early to the airport so that i have time to go to the lounge. And as I said, I see a lot of discussion from seasoned travelers about "access to XYZ lounge at ABC".

When flying out of Singapore, I leave to the airport 60 minutes before the flight -have never missed a flight yet-.
In HKG, I leave for the Airport Express 90 to 100 minutes before the flight -it takes me 10 to 15 minutes to get to the taxi and to the station, plus 35 minutes max to get to airport (time to buy ticket + go to the train and ride -ride is 23 minutes from HKG island- and if I missed the previous train -one leaves every 10 minutes). This gets me to the Airport about 45 minutes before the flight.
In Bangkok, depending the day of the week and the time, I leave between 75 to 100 minutes before the flight to the airport.

I also take into account if I am checking luggage or not, as if i am cutting it too close, without baggage I get to check-in if I missed the closing time by a few minutes
Etc. etc.

I would rather do the same things that I could do in a lounge at home or in the office.

Of course, if I have time, I would go to the lounge.

Rather than discuss how to have access to a lounge at airport X, I think that I would like to start a new thread on how to get fastest to specific airports. I think I will just do that.

BTW, the only time I have missed a flight, it was in 1994 in CCS, and I blame it mostly on the AA staff who were surprisingly slow (for some reason checking in at CCS always took forever -I have not been there in a while).



[This message has been edited by Anagnorisis (edited 07-15-2001).]

Just curious, has this minimise-margin-tactics worked every time except in CCS without ever cutting in line for check-in, immigration, security or anywhere else?

For me Lounge access means:

Somewhere nice to while away the 30-45 mins that is ineveitable if you want to leave enough slack in your journey to the airport to deal with traffic delays etc.

Breakfast! (I would rather arrive 15 mins earlier and have someone cook me breakfast!)

Showers when returning from Transatlantic journeys

Free beer after a long hard day in London!

Sanctuary in foreign airports - (anyone ever been to CDG!!)

Even when just travelling on relatively short domestic trips, I'll go into a Presidents Club just to avoid the restrooms in the terminal.

(Oh, if only I was a forum leader, I might be able to delete my own duplicate posts that the software isn't smart enough to prohibit)

[This message has been edited by dbaker (edited 07-15-2001).]

1) In a sense, I always cut in line for check-in though legitimately due to elite status or class of travel. I do not remember checking-in on regular coach counters in a very long while.
2) Emigration is usually fast in most places (as opposed to immigration).
3) As for security, I think that only LHR is very slow (even when going through fast-track).

A couple of times someone from the check-in counter scorted me to speed up going through immigration, but they did so out of their own initiative.

There are a few cases where I have been very close to missing the flight. A recent case is where I got to the CX counter at HKG airport (3:05pm) 25 minutes before the scheduled departure (3:30pm). It was my mistake I got confused and thought that the scheduled time was 3:50pm). They said they could do nothing. I asked for the next flight (6pm), got the boarding pass (no checked luggage) and basically ran to the gate of the 3:30 flight. I manage to go through emigration and security and make it to the gate in about 15 minutes. At the gate, I showed my boarding pass to the agent and asked hiom to let me in, mentioning that I had no luggage. He took note of my data and let me in.

In HKG, if I have time, and I am traveling whithin Asia and in economy, I would go to the Wing, but mostly to eat there and avoid eating on baord the plane. But again, only if I have spare time, which I rarely do.

For me one of the best reasons for using the lounge is delays. I guess you are one of the very few frequent travellers who have never encountered a flight delay. But when & if you ever do, it is nice to be able to have someplace quiet to sit, make phone calls etc. Also, when a delay occurs and the lines at the gate or ticket area stretch around the airport, it is usually much less crowded at the Clubs & thus possibly get you on the next flight or re-routed that much faster.
I also agree with the statement of leaving my bags, coat etc & being able to wander around unencumbered.

I started this -somehow related- thread about the minimum time required to make it on time to the flight at specific airports.

http://www.flyertalk.com/airports/ft...ML/000013.html

Though they are not heaven by any stretch of the imagination, I do "love" the Lounges for all the good reasons already mentioned above! And the alternatives are just not too great! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

DELAYS DELAYS DELAYS

Maybe I pick the wrong flights I don't know but Fridays at 5 p.m. seem to be a problem for me in regards to delays.